Former India captain Ajay Jadeja has backed Ben Stokes’ decision to retire from international cricket, saying the England all-rounder had made the “right decision” and suggested the decision reflected his unwillingness to let people outside the dressing room dictate the way he should live his life. Stokes announced his retirement after one of the most decorated careers in English cricket, bringing the curtain down on a journey that included match-winning performances in the 2019 ODI World Cup Final, a memorable Headingley Ashes Test later that year, and many other memorable moments across formats.
Reacting to the Sony Sports announcement, Jadeja said he admires Stokes for standing by his principles. “I think he made the right decision, and I would go one step further. Especially for a captain of a country’s cricket team to be told what he can do in the evening and what he can’t do, there are some people who can accept that, but geniuses like him will not be governed by people who are not on the field.”
Jadeja added that he would have understood if these instructions had come from within the team, but not from the officials. “If there are people in the locker room that want you to do something, that’s a different story.
But when the people running the game try to tell you how to live your life and what to do, I’m very happy. I’m not happy that he’s retiring and we won’t see him play, but this is the guy who said, ‘Okay, this is it.’ He was a controversial man. “He played controversially.” Stokes’ retirement came less than three weeks after he was involved in an off-field controversy following England’s victory in the first Test against New Zealand.
Stokes and Joss Atkinson violated the team’s midnight curfew and were present during an incident at a London nightclub involving an ECB security staff and a Muslim rugby player. The ECB then made both players unavailable for the second Test while an investigation was conducted by the Cricket Regulator, with Joe Root stepping in as stand-in captain. However, the cricket regulator later found insufficient evidence to prove any breach of ECB cricket regulations, and acquitted both players.
The ECB also stated that neither player should be blamed for the violent incident, stressing that Stokes was not involved in or a witness to the altercation, while Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate. Meanwhile, former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar admitted that he was saddened by Stokes’ retirement, calling it the end of an era. “It’s frustrating for me because of the retirements of two all-time greats, Kane Williamson and Ben Stokes, and the surprising timing of the retirements as well.” Manjrekar said Stokes’ greatness cannot be measured in numbers alone. “Ben Stokes, I emphasized, this is not a guy who is going to average 50 or take 600 wickets, but he has this unique ability to perform with greatness on the big stage and win matches almost single-handedly for his country, be it Tests, ODIs or T20Is.” He believes quality will determine Stokes’ place in cricket history. “This is his legacy, and I feel very sad.
“The people we worship and love to watch, we won’t see them anymore.” One of England’s greatest players, Stokes played defining roles in some of the country’s biggest victories, including his unbeaten 84 in the 2019 ODI World Cup final against New Zealand, his extraordinary 135 not out at Headingley during the Ashes later that summer, and his career-best Test score of 258 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016.